Jungle

Chapter 1

It was the typical summer afternoon in the lower ninth ward of New Orleans. Neighborhood children running around, all the hot boys posted up, and Alexis and her homegirls scoping out the scene. Her best friend of three years, Rudy, led the way down the street as random men tried to catch their attention.

"Say, black." A man called out to Alexis.

She held her head down, pretending to watch her step as she ignored him. For a slight second Alexis looked up and eyed the group of men on the side of her. A few of them were fine, but she wasn't checking for none of them. Two houses down, they had reached their destination.

"What y'all doing out hea?" Rudy's cousin, Ace asked.

"Me and Lex drove out here to see our homegirl down the street and I decided to walk down here. I ain't heard from ya'." Rudy replied.

"I ain't been on shit. Tryna stay outta trouble." He spit on the curb.

"Say, love. You ain't hear me calling you?" The same guy from a few feet away said.

"Gone. I'm not fooling with you, son." She mugged him cause he looked like he could be the same age as her father.

There were about five dudes with this man and all of them were looking expect for one, the cutest one. He was looking down the street and on his phone. Alexis kept her eyes on him as the older man kept spitting game to her.

"She is not fucking with you, potna. Leave that alone." Rico finally put his phone down and turned towards Alexis.

He looked her up and down, noticing how young she looked compared to them. Rico was only twenty-three, but he figured Alexis was about eighteen. After getting a good look at her, he went back to minding his business. Rico's friend eventually stopped, but not after calling her ugly for not wanting to hook up with him.

"I'll never understand niggas. If she so ugly then what was the point of trying to talk to her?" Rudy rolled her eyes.

This wasn't Alexis' first time being called out her name or being called ugly because she didn't want to talk to a dude. She ignored him and kept it pushing. She knew things could escalate and she wasn't in the mood for that. As she sparked a new conversation with Rudy, Ace got inside his Challenger and turned on a beat for them to shake to.

"Lets go Lexi, it's been a minute since I seen you shake." Ace grabbed the rello from behind his ear as he turned up his radio.

There were a lot of people outside and Alexis got a little shy. She was known for being a good dancer, but she wasn't up for it today. Rico stared at her and Rudy as the giggled like school girls. Ace cheered them on and turned the music up louder once he saw his neighbors moving to the music.

"Don't put me on the spot." She fixed her white Air Forces and unbuttoned the first button on her shorts.

Reedy's, Fischer Fool played and Alexis started shaking what her mama gave her once the beat dropped. She held onto the car as her petite frame bounced up and down. The mix switched songs so Alexis followed and changed her flow. Her hands touched the concrete while she was focused on shaking for the 17th, the hood her boyfriend was from.

"That's just a lil slight something." She laughed and fixed her clothes.

After seeing her dance, Rico then realized he had seen Alexis around a few times. She was well known because she had been in a few local bounce videos and he seen around the club scene before. Rico also knew Alexis' big brother, someone he wasn't too fond of. Just then, any attraction he felt for her was slowing fading.

"I'll holla at you later, potna." Rico's friend dapped him up.

His small entourage began leaving and he was now standing against his car on his lonesome. Since no one was around to beg for his weed, he decided to roll up right there. Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell Rudy and Alexis were staring at him. He laughed to himself and shook his head. Once he finished rolling up, he noticed he didn't have a lighter on him. Too lazy to go inside his home, he walked over to ask Ace if he had a lighter he could use. Ace and Rico only lived a few houses down from each other so they were well aquatinted.